Future in the Stars | Catradora

5 - Rise and Shine

Adora's POV

"Catra!" I cried. I sprung out of the water and buried her in a hug. "What's going on?"

"I-I'm sorry," she stuttered.

"You don't have to apologize," I whispered, holding her close to me. "You didn't do anything wrong."

We stayed like that until her breathing seemed to be a little more under control.

"You wanna talk about it?" I asked.

Catra sniffed and tried to get a hold of herself.

"I-It was on Horde P-Prime's ship," she started. "Before he chipped me, he b-brought me to this pool, and t-told me I would be reborn, then he... he..."

She started trembling, and wouldn't continue. She felt so fragile in my arms, and as I glanced over at the waterfall, it suddenly all made sense.

"He tried to drown you, didn't he?" I asked quietly.

She nodded, and covered her mouth so that no more sobs would escape.

"Hey, look at me," I said. "Prime is gone. There's no one here to hurt you; you're completely safe. What happened to you will never happen again, I promise. I'll make sure of it."

She clung onto me, but I noticed her claws had retracted. That was different—she used to try and inflict pain on others when she was hurting.

"Do you want to go to bed, now?" I asked.

She nodded again. I picked her up, and carried her to the bed. The two of us laid down, and we held onto each other until sleep claimed us.

Bow's POV

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Glimmer shouted, running down the hall, dragging one last suitcase behind her. "Rise and shine, sleepyheads!"

Glimmer knocked loudly on Adora's bedroom door, but when it finally opened, Catra and Melog were standing there.

"Uh... did you two spend the night together?" I asked as Adora walked up to join Catra by the door.

"Yeah, uh... heh heh," Adora laughed nervously.

Glimmer stared at them for a few moments. "Did you guys have—"

"No!" they both replied immediately.

I put my hands on my hips. "You sure about that?"

"We didn't, honest," Adora admitted. "We just cuddled, that's all."

"That's not important right now!" Glimmer exclaimed. "We're falling behind schedule."

"Entrapta's waiting for us to get on board," Glimmer added. "Are you two ready?"

"Yep," Adora said. "Just give us a second to get changed."

Adora shut the door again, so Glimmer and I headed down the hall. We stopped by the throne room to say goodbye to King Micah.

"Dad!" Glimmer cried, running up to give him a hug.

"Hey, baby girl," the kind replied. "You all packed up and ready to go?"

"Pretty much. We're just waiting on Adora and Catra," she said. "Are you sure you'll be all right handling Bright Moon on your own?"

"Don't worry about me; with the threat of the Horde gone, there isn't much to be concerned about. Now go have fun on your adventure!"

Glimmer laughed, and kissed him on the cheek. "We'll be back soon!" she said, then turned to me and pointed at the suitcase she was holding. "I'm going to bring this to Darla; meet me on board, okay?"

"Bow?" Micah asked, once Glimmer teleported.

"Yes, sir?"

"Oh, there's no need for formalities like that! After all, you were the one who helped rescue me from beast island," he said, and then placed his hands on my shoulders. "Take care of Glimmer for me, will you?"

"Of course," I said with a smile. "I promise nothing bad will happen to her."

"We're here!" Adora called as she ran into the room, Catra and Melog right behind her. "Where's Glimmer?"

"On the ship," I said. "You ready?"

"All set," Adora confirmed, and Catra gave a nod. I found it kind of odd that she was being so quiet; she wasn't normally very shy. Although, her life had taken a huge turn, so it was only natural for her to be confused about everything.

"Come on; Glimmer's waiting!" I said, excitement creeping into my tone.

We all started walking outside, waving to anyone we passed on the way. We had said our farewells to everyone yesterday at the party, but all the staff in the palace were waiting to see us off. The four of us collectively decided not to make a big thing out of our departure, so we could leave whenever.

We climbed on board and met up with Entrapta in the control room. She was doing some last minute repairs, and making some additions to Darla.

"You know, Entrapta, you can just come with us," Glimmer said. "We have plenty of room on the ship for a fifth person—and honestly, we could really use your smarts."

"No, that's okay," she replied. "I promised Hordak that I'd fill him in on everything he missed. Oh, we have so much to talk about! Plus, we have to teach Wrong Hordak how to be... um... normal."

I laughed. "Fair enough."

"If you ever need anything, though, you can contact me with this," she said, handing me a new tracker pad. "I fused the communication wires with the strongest radio tech I could find. You can contact anyone from anywhere."

"Perfect! Thanks, Entrapta."

"No problem!" she said, then headed for the door. She gave a little wave. "I'll see you guys when you get back!"